by Sotia Lazu
No. Bad Irine. This is my boss. There will be no licking the boss.
Unless he wants me to?
Nope. Not even then.
“Well?” he asks.
Well what? Does he want me to lick him? Does he expect me to drop to my knees? Because my body insists that should totally be my next move, but my brain is screaming for me to get out of here. Then again, I do owe him.
“Huh?” I’m so very eloquent.
He smirks. “You forgot your bag.” He whispers the words, making them sound positively sinful.
Right. Bag. Out of here. “Thanks. It’s been a long morning.” I reach for it, but he swings his arm backward.
“Are you always that forgetful?” His voice is a purr, caressing every square centimeter of my skin.
I should leave the bag, turn on my heel, and go, while I’m in control of my faculties.
“Or has something thrown you off balance?” He leans closer, holding my bag behind his back. When I try to grab it, he wraps his other arm around my waist.
I stumble and fall forward. Press my body to his. The knot of his robe’s sash digs into my stomach.
No, that’s not what this is.
He’s hard. And almost naked. And I want him to the point of insanity.
He looks at me, the light reflecting in a silver ring that almost overtakes the blue-green of his eyes.
This is so very wrong.
Half-heartedly, I try to pull away. With the elevator doors shut behind me, there’s nowhere to go. I end up trapped between his hard body and the cold metal.
My breathing is shallow, my head light. Sei licks his lips, and I part mine with a sigh. If he kisses me, I won’t be able to hold back. I’ll melt into him. Climb his body and impale myself on his cock.
He doesn’t move.
His gaze is locked on mine, his hand splayed on my back but not moving. I hear a thud, and then his other palm is cupping my face.
Kiss me. I can’t think of anything I’ve ever wanted more.
He doesn’t, and yet... he does.
I feel his lips press against mine, soft but unyielding. His mouth coaxes mine open, so he can slip his tongue inside. I suck on it, but it’s not there. It’s behind his pearly whites that flash at me from his beaming smile. His right hand glides down my neck and cups my breast, but I can still feel it, warm and callused, on my cheek. I feel his thumb ghost over my lips at the same time it grazes my nipple.
I arch into the phantom touch and hate the moan that escapes my lips. This man has the uncanny ability to reduce me to a ball of need without even touching me.
Because he’s not touching me. But he is. Like he did on the plane. Did he make me come like this? Like...
How?
“How are you doing this?” I whisper.
He ducks his head—really this time—and nuzzles the spot beneath my ear. “Maybe I’m a god.”
A cocky asshole, more like it.
“You’re not that good.” But when his hand—real or imagined—skates up my thigh, raising my skirt, I pump my hips toward him.
He chuckles and slowly withdraws his hand from my back, caressing my side. “Oh, I’m better. You’ll see.” He presses the call button and steps away. “See you in the morning. Get a good night’s sleep. I plan on exhausting you.”
I blink dazedly. In the morning? Right. We’re going to work out. Whatever that means.
Now that his cologne isn’t filling my nostrils, my head feels clearer. I’m still uncomfortably wet, my panties sticking to my bare pussy when I walk into the elevator car, but I don’t look like a woman wishing her boss will fuck her on the spot. I hope.
“I’ll see you at six.” And hey, my voice is steady. Go me.
I make a beeline through the lobby to the exit, gaze straight ahead.
And fuck, I left my bag behind again.
Oh well. I’ll pray I don’t get stopped on the drive back, because there’s no way in hell I’m facing that man and his magnetic libido again so soon.
Fuckity fuck, I’m not driving anywhere. My car keys are in that bag too.
Chapter Nine – Sei
Fuck. I have to wait twenty hours till I see her again.
Why didn’t I take her? She was ripe for the plucking, eagerly responding to my mental ministrations.
But when she gives herself to me, I want her to have no doubts. She must be burning for me. Dying to feel me filling her. Only then will our bonding be guaranteed to bring forth my ascension.
Fuck, I should have fucked her. Given her a taste of the real thing. Made her come back for more.
I rub the back of my neck and roll my shoulders. My gaze falls on her bag on the floor, and I duck down to pick it up. Maybe I’ll see her sooner than expected.
“That was fast,” Hermes says. “Embarrassingly so. Thought you’d last more than five minutes.”
I didn’t hear him enter. This no-door thing is getting on my nerves.
“Nothing happened,” I half-say, half-growl. “You’ll know when it does. I’m gonna zap your ass halfway around the world, for being a pest.”
He raises his hands in the air in mock-supplication, but his grin betrays him. “Hey, at least we know for sure that she’s into you. Should have seen her on the ride down. She was a ball of stress and stinking of pheromones.” His senses of smell and hearing are more evolved than mine, but I’ll take my compulsion power over them any day. “And she won me a nifty fifty,” he says. With his index and middle finger, he pinches a fifty-euro note and waves it in the air between us.
I scoff. “Nifty? How old are you?”
Hermes arches an eyebrow. “Younger than you, in every lifetime.”
That’s what C’s told us. We can’t remember our previous lives yet, only fragments from our original existence.
My eye-roll will suffice as an answer. It doesn’t shut Hermes up, but then again, nothing ever does.
“So why did she run out of here like Cerberus was after her—and sans bag? Did you make a move? Did she slap you?” He leans closer, as if to check my cheeks for marks.
“Yes and no.”
He huffs. “Damn it. I had good money riding on a slap.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” I’m not. Not even a little bit. Besides, he doesn’t need the money. Technically, none of us needs to work, thanks to the fortune C gifted each of us on our eighteenth birthday, but the jobs help explain our lifestyles. And they keep us from dying of boredom.
“Can I at least tell Hades she slapped you?” he asks.
“No.” I press him backward with a hand on his shoulder, and push the call button to keep the elevator doors from closing.
“I can tell him she gave into your charms after the slap. I win, and you save face.”
“No.” I turn and walk back toward my bedroom. I have a hard-on to tame, and if I feel so inclined, a bag to snoop through.
The ringing echoing in my suite stops me in my tracks and throws me back to last Friday. The sound of the land line brings with it the same sense of foreboding. I approach the side table cautiously, like the old-fashioned rotary phone might attack. It’s C. I know before I toss the tote on the nearest armchair and lift the receiver to my ear. So why does my chest feel tight? “Go for Sei.”
He sighs, and my rebel side enjoys his annoyance as much as ever, but there’s something else in that sound. Something that sets me on edge and makes me grit my teeth.
It’s his power. I’ve always felt it, but not to this level. Is he growing stronger, or am I?
“It’s all you, Poseidon. Being near Ms. Anastasaki—your imminent bonding—is boosting your powers.”
Cool. Except for the part where he’s reading my mind over the phone.
“Your thoughts are as loud as a foghorn, my boy.” His voice is smooth, friendly, the voice of the grandfatherly figure he’s always been to my brothers and me. But he sounds reluctant, and that’s not part of his usual repertoire. He’s going to say something I don’t like.
I f
ocus on raising a wall inside my head, the way he’s taught me to. There should be no need, since only he and other Olympians share this mental link with me, but better safe than sorry. “Is that why you called?” I ask. “To say you can hear me?”
His hesitation speaks volumes. It’s not.
“Did you find Apollo?” I hate the mix of hope and worry in my voice, but I can’t help it.
Apollo is the only Olympian male C hasn’t been able to track, but he’s as much my brother as the others. We were all brought up with stories of our original lives, sprinkled with the occasional ancient memory, and those stories included the golden boy who was on good terms with everyone. Humans and immortals alike loved him. Well, except for one human female, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that his absence, when this is our time to ascend, can only mean one of two things—he’s either cloaked by a power we haven’t taken into consideration, or he’s dead.
Even if it’s the former, any power strong enough to hide an Olympian can be dangerous. To Apollo and to the rest of us.
“It’s not your brother who surfaced. No.”
His phrasing raises my hackles. “Then who?” If Zeus found a way to come back and steal my thunder—pun very much intended, since I’m to rule the skies in his stead—I’ll... I don’t know what I’ll do. I have scattered memories of him, cocky and annoying and always having a plan, but I feel no animosity toward him. Doesn’t mean I’m going to let him waltz in here and take what I’ve been preparing for my whole life.
Another sigh. “Aphrodite.”
I must have heard wrong. “Who?”
“Aphrodite? Goddess of beauty? Zeus’ daughter and once-upon-a-time Olympus’ denizen?” He huffs, and it’s as annoying as his sighs.
His huffs and sighs and hums have always bothered me, but for once, I can pinpoint why. They sound forced. No—fake. Like he’s imitating human mannerisms. Does he realize? Do I do it too? Will I, when I’m no longer even partially human?
And I need to learn how to focus, if I’m to lead the new pantheon.
“Where is she? Is she with you? Does she know who she is? Who she can be?” The questions spill from my lips one after the other.
His chuckle sounds real. “Oh, she knows. She’s ascended and bonded to the prince of Vythos.”
Wait. I know who that is. “Nerites? They used to be lovers. Before.” I want to be happy for her, and part of me is, but does her ascension affect us?
“They were more than that. They were each other’s fated mate.”
That’s why she ascended. “And she just happened to run into him in this lifetime?”
“With a little help from her son.”
Now this was a curve ball. “Eros has been reborn?”
“Not quite. He never faded away.”
Eros isn’t an Olympian, so he doesn’t matter. Aphrodite does. “Did you talk to her? Will she join us?” I don’t ask the question I want to ask. Will she oppose my rule? “Does she know about us?”
“If she does, she’s keeping it to herself. I haven’t sensed anyone trying to break through your cloaking. I believe she’s simply happy to be alive and in love.”
I scoff. How can anyone, let alone a goddess who used to have everyone worshiping at her feet, be content with that little?
An unbidden mental image of sitting by a fireplace with Irine in my arms, laughing and sipping wine, fills my head. Warmth spreads inside my chest, and tension I didn’t realize was there seeps out of the muscles in my back and shoulders. Is this what true happiness feels like?
“Are you projecting this?” I ask C through gritted teeth.
“Projecting what?”
I sense no hint of deception in his question.
“Nothing.” Shooing away the thought and the sense of calm that came with it takes some effort, but I’m a god. I manage. “How come you didn’t find her sooner? Was there magic involved?” I tuck the receiver between my cheek and shoulder, and sink on the couch. Rub my face. This isn’t how I imagined my morning unfolding.
While I was growing up, C’s explanation for why he’d only found us six, and especially why there were no females among us, was that we were the only ones meant to ascend. We didn’t question him on it, like we never questioned him on anything. We were kids, and he was the only grownup who ever cared about us. He took us in, gave us a family, a home, an education, and a future. More, he promised us power and wealth, and consistently delivered on those promises. What more could six orphan boys want?
I wasn’t a boy anymore. “Could there be more latent goddesses out there? Ones you haven’t located? We need to know these things before we go public.” It won’t do our credibility any good to declare ourselves earth’s benevolent overlords if we’re going to be dealing with infighting. We’ll have a hard enough time dealing with the humans without destroying all of them, while presenting a united front.
“Let me worry about that.”
He said the same when I asked if the Titans would give us any trouble. I wasn’t reassured then, and I’m not reassured now. I mean, sure, he can teleport, see the future, and on occasion change the weather, but his power isn’t limitless, and if the Titans make a move now, my brothers and I are pretty much useless.
“Is that all you care to share?” I don’t try to hide my irritation.
His face appears before me, two meters tall from chin to forehead and hovering above my living-room floor. He doesn’t want me to miss his scowl when he says, “It is.” His voice booms around me, as well as coming from the receiver. “I would like to keep this news from your brothers for the time being. They are not all as levelheaded as you and may do something rash.”
I don’t flinch. In fact, I keep my expression neutral. “Thanks for the info. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate some privacy.”
He gives me the world’s largest eye-roll and blinks away.
There’s so much to think about. To figure out. I should tell the guys about Aphrodite. Even if my vote holds more weight, we need to decide as a team whether to approach her.
I can tell them later. For now, I’d like to return to my previous pondering, about Irine and her fine curves.
Exhausted yet bursting with unspent energy, I replace the receiver and stand.
The city is offering itself to me, splayed like a lover outside my large bay windows. Begging me to take it. This is where I’ll build my palace. I tried to claim Athens as mine once, but Athena won the residents’ favor. I may not remember much from my original life, but I remember the sting of rejection.
They won’t get another option this time. They’ll have me and be thankful for it.
I move closer to the window, to look at the trees below. Like the double-glazed glass panes, they’ve been strategically positioned to act as a barrier between me and the noise and the dirt and the traffic. So much traffic, even in this upscale suburb.
Busy. Always busy. Mortals live every moment so intensely, trying to leave behind their mark, while I—with my potentially infinite power—am stuck following steps in a plan I didn’t hatch.
But soon, I’ll be in charge. In control of their destinies.
Will I feel complete then?
I didn’t when I graduated top of my class, from Oxford University, no less. I didn’t when I bought my first hotel with money I made and invested, refusing to touch the account C set up for me. I didn’t when I bought my tenth hotel. My fourth summer house. My twelfth car—an Aston Martin, by the way.
Will I feel complete when I ascend?
Will I feel complete with Irine?
Our coupling is supposed to restore my immortality and all that comes with it. Her soul was created in order to bond with mine. She’s a means to an end, not the end itself.
Which means I shouldn’t be thinking of her shapely calves and her round breasts and those large hazel eyes I could get lost in. I shouldn’t be thinking of looking into those eyes as I take off her prim jacket and unzip her modest skirt. As I slide it
down her round hips.
My cock stirs back to life. I undo my robe and throw it to the floor with a dramatic roll of my shoulders. The glass is tinted. No mortal can see me fist my cock and tug.
Pity. I’m a fucking glorious male specimen, and my cock is spectacular.
My shaft throbs in my hand, as I pull on it. Wish it was Irine’s hand—hands—circling me. Her lips, sucking me in. Her bare pussy, stretching to accommodate my girth.
I flatten my free palm on the cold glass and let my lids drift shut, as I call to memory the curve of her cheek, the line of her jaw...
What romantic bullshit is this?
I stir my thoughts toward the silky feel of her pussy against my fingertips, from the fleeting contact I had with her bare flesh before I realized I could send my thoughts to her when she was aroused. The sounds she made as I used my temporary hold on her mind to mentally finger fuck her to orgasm...
Fuck, this feels good. I don’t try to stifle my groans as my pleasure peaks. My balls tighten, and my dick jerks, and I keep pumping until a shiver rolls down my spine and cum spurts out in thick, warm jets that coat my hand when I twist my grip over my cockhead. My head light with the force of my orgasm, I squeeze out every last drop.
I force my eyes open and look down, to see the window splattered with my spendings. If the mere memory of her can make me come this hard, what will happen when I’m finally buried inside her?
My excitement at that prospect is soured by one tiny little detail—I lied to her.
I don’t lie to get my way.
No matter. If she asks again, I’ll tell her the truth.
Coward.
I should offer the truth. Right now. And this has nothing to do with wanting to hear her voice again.
Chapter Ten – Irine
Come on, come on, come on!
Lena has to be home. She always sleeps in on her off days. God, I hope she didn’t go anywhere. Since my car keys are in my bag, on Sei’s living-room floor, I had to walk forever to find a taxi. Ms. Papadima let me in downstairs, but now I have an irate taxi driver and a full bladder waiting for my sister to get the apartment door.